West Street Walkout Urges Pittsfield to Prioritize Safer StreetsBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
06:28PM / Saturday, February 25, 2023 | |
 A fatal pedestrian crash occurred West Street last month. |
 | | The group uses the crosswalk at West Street. Ward 6 Councilor Dina Guiel Lampiasi and Councilor Peter Marchetti joined the walkout. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Following the death of a pedestrian in a West Street crosswalk, community members are demanding action for safer public ways.
On Saturday, the Pittsfield Community Design Center founder Nicholas Russo led a walking group through a portion of the corridor to show issues with navigation. The procession began at Dorothy Amos Park.
He explained that the event aimed to call attention to the crash that killed Pittsfield resident Shaloon Milord in January and the national trend of increasing traffic fatalities.
"We want to not contribute to those statistics," Russo said. "We want to get to zero deaths."
There have been seven traffic deaths in Pittsfield since 2022 and two so far this year. This includes fatalities in cars, walking, or biking.
Just over the city line in Lenox, a pedestrian was hit on the Pittsfield Road and later died from injuries earlier this month.
"We're here to get that word out that there are things we can do now and planning for the future to reduce those numbers and get to zero deaths eventually," Russo said.
The community group is asking for signatures on a petition that asks for the city's leadership to take immediate steps to improve the safety of this portion of West Street and to prioritize a corridor study of West Street, along with Government Drive and College Way, from Merriam Street to Columbus Avenue to implement long-term, capital safety improvements.
Commissioner of Public Services and Utilities Ricardo Morales has worked on Complete Streets projects in the downtown, which includes the reconfiguration of North Street traffic into one lane and the addition of bike lanes, and has advocated for pedestrian safety throughout the city.
There have been efforts to derail the downtown's design but a report that was presented to the City Council over the summer revealed a 77 percent decrease in crashes after the single lanes were implemented.
"I'm really excited to see the community come together in this way. It's good to see the community aligned with our vision too because we're prioritizing different locations. Something like what happened here, the deadly collision here raises our awareness of where we need to do work," Morales said.
"We can't just do everything everywhere, unfortunately, but with locations like this, we have to take action and we're doing conceptual work already to implement something."
This area has been on Ward 6 Councilor Dina Guiel Lampiasi's radar and she was glad to see the community engagement and a partnership between city staff and residents. Council President Peter Marchetti was also in attendance.
"This is an area that I am familiar with. I've biked it, I walk it, I drive it daily," Lampiasi said. "Doing the loop with everybody else kind of opened my eyes to different mobility issues with the challenges of snow and ice present."
Snow flurries fell during the walk and there was frozen snow and ice on the ground due to freezing temperatures. Russo and a couple of others traveled by bicycle to the event.
Russo said the fatal crash could have been prevented and urged residents to get involved.
"As citizens, come to City Council, listen, and speak up at the open mic if you feel so moved to talk about what a safer street in your neighborhood would mean to you, what it would mean to drive in the city, to walk in the city," he said.
"Just tell from your perspective. You don't need to be an expert about traffic engineering to say what a safe street would mean to you."
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